The cheapest car with automatic transmission available on the domestic market starts at a little over 9,000 euros, but even so, customers are still avoiding such cars because a model costs at least 1,000 euros more than a manual transmission version. The popularity of automatic transmission on the automotive market is not so much a matter of price and traffic conditions as it is a matter of culture first of all, analysts on the local market say.
For instance, penetration of automatic transmission in the US reaches over 95%, while in Europe, especially in countries such as Spain and Italy, it is much lower. "The local market is price conscious when it comes to buying a car and the cheapest automatic transmission gearboxes, the robotised gearboxes, drive the car price up by 1,000 euros, and even by 2,000 euros or more in the case of a higher performance gearbox," said Marius Carp, automotive market analyst and former executive manager of the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers (APIA).
